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Children of War: Heavy Metal Beatdown
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter The Children of War: Heavy Metal Beatdown Pursuit of the Hunted Leaping upon rooftop after rooftop as fast as they could. Two death machines running on the streets alongside them. To Sun, it was nothing short of terrifying. His heart was pounding in his chest, every muscle and nerve working on overdrive as he hopped to keep up with Blake and Elisha. He was used to being chased, but only by people. Being hunted by two mobile weapons that carried the power to wipe out an army by themselves was something different entirely. Hopefully, after this, it would be the last time he would ever have to go through it. Elisha, on the other hand, didn't find it so scary. "Well!" He shouted, keeping a leisurely pace. The way he hopped from building to building made it seem like he was performing something natural. "This is certainly an exercise, right? Nothing gets the blood flowing better than running for your life against two attack mechs! I bet if we do happen to survive this, all three of us will be well endowed!" "I don't mean to rain on your parade, dude," Sun fired back. "But I'm more concerned about getting through this alive! How are we even supposed to deal with these things?! We can't fight them by ourselves!" "Of course we can!" Elisha cheered, flashing him a grin. Sun shot him a look of disbelief. "What?!" Elisha frowned. "Well, we could, but I doubt it would produce much fruit! I mean, I do have faith in your strength, but--!" "No, no, it's fine, I get it!" Sun cut him off before he could explain any further. He twisted his head to Blake before being forced to look ahead for his jumps. "That being said, it would probably be a great idea to call some back-up! Specifically, everyone!" In the Spider Droid, Harkin kept his eyes glaring daggers on the screen that was monitoring the three Faunus. He was bearing this look particularly towards Blake. It had been bad enough that she had struck him in the first place. But she had spat in his eyes and had gotten away with it. As far as he was concerned, she had defaced a very sacred ground. After briefly taking his hand off the controls to wipe at his face, he pressed a button establishing a radio connection between him and Roman. "It looks like they might be headed for the nearby highway, Roman." He reported. "I'll let you keep on 'em. Once we hit it, I'll break off and keep flanking from the upper bridge road. Keep an eye out for any pests," His eyes narrowed into near slits. "Especially the friends of these vermin." "Oh lovely! I do hope we get to see those annoying brats," Roman replied, his HUD locking onto the three retreating along the rooftops. Priming back one of the machine's arms and delivering a brutal punch to the lower exterior of a strucutre, it'd begin to domino from one building into another. The structures collapsed in a line just as the three would land upon a rising street that led to the highway. "I've always enjoyed being part of a one-sided massacre!" "This isn't good," Blake hissed lowly as she somersaulted along the pavement, keeping up her momentum as to not let the two legged or eight legged machinas of killing catch up. Raising her hand up to an earpiece linked to her Scroll, she called her friends left on all channels. "Guys! We got company and we need everyone to converge to help bring them down. One Harkin and Roman Torchwick. They're in proto-type machines that we can't handle on our own. Bring as much ammo and people as you can, because we're in need of it in spades!" "Yang here. I'll just bring Iron Arm and Hopeless Blue with me! Given what my Scroll says you're not that far from me so we should reendevous in about a few minutes!" "Ruby here! Weiss and I are on the way!" "This is Nora! I'm bringing the Thunder to ya!" "Let's just hope they all get here in time-EE!" Blake exclaimed, watching Torchwick gain speed and run down the highway they were sprinting along. Rushing by cars the three surpassed understanding of the drivers that honked and veered away as best as they could from their superhuman velocity, but could do nothing as Roman disregarded their safety and plowed through anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way. Grunting, she performed an aerial flip to fire several rounds at Roman's canopy while landing atop a Semi. Catching her breath she continued to harry him with shots that did nothing to his protective barrier, allowing him to rush them unimpeded. "Guys! A little help!" Meanwhile, Neptune and Anthony rode near Yang, propelling on their motorbikes to the battle. Cars flipped and smashed brutally around them, taking their best maneuvering to avoid joining the wreckage. When the fighting thinned out, Yang used one hand to drive and let Ember Cilica launch fireballs from her left hand at the backside of Roman's vehicle. Despite it having no virtual effect, she tried to do anything to deter its approach. "Guys! Keep Roman going the way he is! Weiss and I have a plan to isolate him from everybody else!" "Yeah, and keep Harkin from straying off course too!" Ren added. "I mean no offense, Ren!" Elisha cried out, snatching his weapon from his back. A few quick clicks of buttons, and it shifted into its sniper rifle form. He spared a glance at the Spider Droid, his eyes widening when he saw it rocket off the road they were on and onto a bridge road above it. "But I don't think Harkin's keen on taking his eye off us any time soon!" Once the Spider Droid's bent legs reached hovering position again, its cannons were aimed and readied down at the road below. Harkin switched sights from the Faunus to the enemy motorcyclists who were catching up. He gave a wicked smile as he primed the cannons. "All right, Yang." He muttered. "Let's see how you and your buddies fair under pressure." All six cannons were fired in repetition, unleashing a storm of blasts that littered the road behind Roman. Each shot blew holes through the road, blowing away and completely dismantling the cars traveling alongside it. Both the ones traveling on bike and foot reeled in shock, desperately evading Harkin's heavy fire and trying to keep up with Roman's Paladin. "Son of a bitch!" Anthony cursed through his own earpiece. His motorcycle was swerved to and fro, and Neptune hung onto him for dear life. "Harkin's taken up to the road above ours and he's zeroing in on us! We ain't gonna last long down here!" "Whatever plan you guys have," Sun called out, barely leaping away before one of Harkin's shots rendered it to pieces and fragments. His gun-staff was out, flipped and twisted to block the shots from the Spider Droid's head turrets. But although it kept him covered, the shots carried enough power to shake his balance. "You better get on with it quick!" "Don't worry, boys and girls." A new voice - Kiarra's voice - came in through the comms. "We've got Harkin under control." What Harkin wouldn't see was her and Seth standing in his path. She held Kimber's axe form toward the Droid, while Seth aimed his pistols. Both of them wore anticipating grins on their faces, even finding the time to exchange words with one another. "I'll let you lead, cowboy." "You're damn right you will!" Eagerly, Seth fired a volley of Lightning shots. They hit the distracted Droid with the precision of an expert, sending volts both through it and the man inside it. "AGH!" Harkin yelled, clenching his teeth. His body shook, riddled with the surge of electricity. Thankfully for him, it was only brief. After a few seconds of needed recovery, he forced the Droid to face forward. "What in the hell--?!" But by this point, Kiarra was already on him. She leaped onto the front of the droid, staring down at its metallic face. The turrets were aimed, but sputtered with volts of electricity - a sign of short-circuitry. She didn't waste any time, imbuing the blade of her axe with her Semblance and slashing the head turrets. Under the influence of her ice powers, they were made brittle and shattered against her blows. She followed it up with a stab through the Droid's head, the tip barely missing a startled Harkin's head. "Sorry, boy." Kiarra taunted, gripping the spear tightly. An ice-like vapor began to seep from completely whitened eyes. "But I need a minute of your time." Her powers were focused. A sudden wave of cold swept over Harkin, giving the impression that he was trying to maneuver through one of Remnant's poles instead of a busy highway street. The Droid was overcome with frost, attempting to drive through the haze that overswept it. But despite its efforts, it was forced to slow down. "You guys are clear down there!" Seth called out, using the opportunity to leap on the Droid's back. "Light the Slick Wick up!" Had it not been for the current situation, Anthony would've questioned the nickname with extreme judgement. Instead, he gave a toothy grin at the Paladin. He took one of his hands off of his bike, calling his heavy assault rifle to its grip. As he aimed the barrel at the Paladin's back, Neptune took his hands off of Anthony in order to pull out and aim his own assault rifle. Elisha and Sun managed to stop on their own truck, having enough of a breather to level their own weapons. A second passed before all of those weapons opened fire. "Multiple bogies firing Medium Grade Dust Weapons at 3 and Six O'Clock!" The instruments for the Paladin's computer alerted Roman. "Tch, looks like we got a gaggle of kids who have a death wish. In that case," Torchwick spoke to himself, grinning wildly as he adjusted the controls. One of the metal arms swung like a club, aiming to take Yang out in one swing. Watching her veer off as the edge of the machine's fist ground the road, sending debris exploding outwards his machina torso turned around to face the pair of attackers from behind. Shoulder cannisters raised up to reveal a pair of missile launchers, locking onto both Anthony, Sun, and Neptune. "Let's have a damn good time!" Releasing a barrage of missles, they homed in to wipe out his enemies in one fell swoop in a cacophony of explosive impacts. His vehicle kept up its running momentum, not accounting for anything in front stopping him. But in doing so he'd be stopped by an unlikely combo from a billboard lined up with the highway. "Alright, let's use the Ice Flower combination!" Ruby announced as she lined up her scythe with Weiss' rune hovering before it. "Honestly, you and your choice of names," She complained, but still smiled while shaking her head. A hail of shots froze the upcoming intersection of the bridge completely. In doing so would make the mecha veer off course and crash to the uninhabited grounds beneath the highway itself. The machine took little damage from the fall, its parts and infrastructure built for a higher yield of integrity. Still, blaring warnings came from the computer as Roman recomposed himself with the mecha rising back up on its feet. "You're going to pay for that you little shits!" He swore as he readied himself for their second wave of attacks. "Is everyone alright?!" Ruby yelled from the billboard. Anthony was far from all right. His eyes widened and his teeth clenched when he saw just how ineffective their fire was. His pupils would contract when he saw the missiles launched. "Dude!" Neptune yelled. "Shit!" Anthony snarled, his free hand gripping the handlebar tightly. "Hang on!" Against his sudden jerk of the handle, the bike tilted towards the road. Both of the riders' hearts stopped. They would jolt back to life when a missile crashed into the ground in front of them. The force sent both the bike and two screaming riders flying off the road and to the ground underneath. They were lifted off their seats, tumbling and flailing in an attempt to gain their bearings. Thankfully, that wasn't long; they righted themselves in mid-air, landing in crouches and with resounding smacks. Anthony's feet had even left the earth under him cracked. "You all right, bro?" Neptune breathed, glancing at a rising Anthony. "Peachy." Anthony grumbled, dusting himself off and turning to look at his bike. Even from where he was, he could see bends and breaks of the frame. A growl escaped him, and his free hand clenched. "That was a custom bike, too! That's so coming out of that thieving bastard's wallet!" "I think we have other problems to worry about..." Sun muttered, making his way up to them. He and Elisha had been forced to jump off against the heavy barrage of missiles, with the fish Faunus recovering his breath a ways off. "How are we gonna catch up to them now?" In coincidence, that was when Roman's Paladin fell off and crashed a ways off from their position. The four boys reacted initially with shock, then relaxed when they realized that their opponent wasn't out of their reach. "Just a hop, skip and a jump away?" Neptune joked, raising his rifle up in preparation to attack once more. "Never say that again." Anthony deadpanned, glaring at Neptune as he raised up his own rifle. "What?" Neptune scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Such a critic people are these days..." They were only stopped from attacking when the Spider Droid, guided by Kiarra, slammed into the ground. Its collision was enough to briefly shake it, and the shockwave nearly knocked the Huntsmen-in-training off their feet. They turned startled eyes to it as it rose up with a shudder, its two personal opponents still hanging onto it. "Seth!" Kiarra grunted, gripping her axe tightly and trying her best to hold on. "Help me pry off the head!" "I gotcha, sister--" They were both cut off when an electric shock coursed through their bodies, courtesy of the Spider Droid's emitted pulse. Their bodies convulsed, forced to peel off the Droid as it straightened itself. Somehow, Kiarra managed to keep ahold of her weapon. But in exchange, she along with Seth were left reeling and writhing on the ground. Harkin didn't dare let them get a second wind. One of the arm cannons raised up and slammed itself down against Kiarra's back, earning a strangled scream from the girl as she was pressed against a crumbling ground. He followed it up by slamming the tip of a leg against her, keeping her pinned to the ground. Both arm cannons swiveled up to Seth, opening up and hammering him with its pulses. Too stunned to move out of the way, he was tumbled and thrown like a wind-blown leaf. His form rolled along until it finally stopped, moving no further. "Oh, no...." Anthony reeled at the sight of his downed teammate, his voice shouting out. "Seth!" "Kiarra!" Elisha exclaimed, looking just as alarmed. "Two down already?!" Harkin's voice crowed from the Spider Droid. He cackled in glee, lifting the leg off the weakened Kiarra. She spat blood on the ground as she tried getting up, but couldn't make it too far before she fell back to the ground again. "This is almost unfair! But, what the hell? Like I'm gonna lose any sleep over it!" Everyone was already moving. No one had time to recoil with horror or shout with anger. They had to fight together in order to survive this battle. But not only that, they needed everyone to win as a team. Thus no one stopped when Seth and Kiarra were knocked aside. "Hey, Harkin! Let's see who gets a higher score!" Roman laughed raucously over the mike, raising his mecha's arms while other weapons began to lock in on the surrounding crowd of young fighters. "Bet I can pummel more brats than you can!" A few projectiles struck the area where Roman and Harkin were presided. Those were the ice glyph Dust bullets sent by Ruby and Weiss. It created a shroud of vapor that obscured their HUD's, making it difficult for anyone to pinpoint each other. This allowed the young students of Beacon time to regroup and attack them where they were most vulnerable. In that time, Blake used her opportunity to grab Kiarra while Ruby hoisted Seth over one shoulder and swirled within a flood of roses. Both handily evaded the targeting lasers Roman's Paladin were using to sweep the area. When she set them down, she caught sight of her sister on the iced over bridge above and grinned, glinting Crescent Rose up as the okay. "Combo, Burning Winter," She whispered as Weiss set a set of glyphs for Yang's descending body to fall through. With her Ember Celica gauntlets out, she was covered in an enchanted frost of Dust. Crashing atop Roman's mech, she slammed with an explosion of fire and ice, making the machine of war fall to one knee with a shower of hail impacting the site. Looking over at Harkin, she shot a few flare shots at the Spider Droid while doing her best to not lose her footing on Torchwick's Paladin. Meanwhile, Ruby just pumped her fists with hope that the two would fire at each other. But that wasn't nearly the whole plan. Weiss placed a hand up to her ear and heard the arrival of several others. Looking to Anthony's group of able bodies, she gave them a thumb's up to begin their own hit and run attacks. All the while Ren and Nora were moving in on the Spider Droid themselves. The prior slid on his knees beneath the droid and fired at the vulnerable under belly, intending to weaking its motors or hinder its joints. After a handful of well placed shots from his two automatic guns, he palm thrust upward in its center. The power of which was surprisingly enough to lift the whole metal body. Rolling out of the way, Nora dropped from the vapor clouded air and smashed her hammer with explosive prejudice that sent a shockwave to roll the ice borne fog around them. The sound akin to thunder, Nora grinned broadly at hitting something so big, right over a frosted cockpit. Even after the machine of war would land back on the ground, she hefted the hammer up and bounced around it to avoid the arms as well as its pulse guns, smashing it with ruthless tenacity. She left the other tactics to the rest of the people accompanying them. Flares crashed into the Spider Droid's chassis, drawing Harkin's attention away from Roman. His eyes narrowed, and he immediately swung his gaze to the direction they had come from. The remaining four cannons primed up, ready to follow through with Ruby's hope. Bullets pounded away at the underside of his cockpit, making his heart skip a beat. "WARNING: STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. MOTOR FUNCTIONS DEBILITATED." "Damn this thing for being a prototype!" Harkin seethed, forcing the Spider Droid to evade Ren. But he didn't get too far when he suddenly felt the Droid being lifted and then hurled via the Valkyrie's hammer. He shut his eyes and let out a sharp yell as he was thrown back against the cockpit wall. The Spider Droid itself was sent skidding across the ground for a short distance, leaving a narrow ditch in its wake. It was quick to right itself, but it shuddered as it stood on sparking, twitching legs. When Nora came close, it swung its arms and stomped its legs. But against the smaller and more agile opponent, it had no chance. Harkin growled in frustration, tightening his grip on the controls. "Hold still!!" With that shout from its pilot, the Spider Droid bent its legs and performed another boost. It sent itself high above the battleground, aiming its guns down. The sight of it made eyes widen, and Anthony had only had enough time to shout out to his companions. "INCOMING ABOVE! GET TO COVER!" The guns were fired, peppering the ground underneath with earth-shattering shots. Those targeted were forced to scramble out of the way, seeking cover behind the pillars. But under the immense firepower of the Droid, even that didn't work. They were scrambling and jumping to get out of the way, and the Droid continued to rain fire even as it started to descend. A pair of feet - Mose's feet - slammed into its flank, sending it from its downward path to a sideways one. Wires enveloped its frame, slinging it before pulling it downward. Harkin's startled scream was synced with Rohan's roar as he swung his gloved hands downward, sending the Spider Droid crashing into the earth with immense force. A brief dust storm was kicked up, forcing shocked observers to shield their faces with their arms. "Dude!" Sun breathed. "Remind me never to get on that guy's bad side..." Neptune muttered. "Thank you bunches, Ro!" Anthony cheered, grinning as he turned to the shakily rising Spider Droid. "Come on! Close in and finish him off!" They charged at the Spider Droid, with Elisha maintaining a certain distance away from them. The fish Faunus raised his rifle, firing as much Sound-imbued shots as his bolt-action rifle would allow. Neptune added to the pressure with lightning-imbued shots. Both the shocks and the sound tearing through their body left both Harkin and the Spider Droid sickened and disoriented, with the Droid stumbling like a drunk. It barely managed to raise its guns up as its enemy approached. Sun dived in first, sliding between the Droid's legs and blasting away at the weakened joints before darting away. Anthony, after dodging a swing of its arms and with his Semblance helping his own arms, sliced through several of those legs. By the time he was done, the Droid was left to stand on two legs instead of eight. The weight of the main body and the human inside were proving too much for those legs to handle, and attempting to move the Droid further only resulted in pained shudders. "N-NO!" Harkin snapped, angry and desperate as he swung the Droid's arms to Anthony. "I AM NOT GOING DOWN LIKE THIS! YOU HEAR ME?!" Anthony merely swung that blade again, slicing through one arm cannon and then the other. He threw himself through the grabbing range of the pincers, using those vein-enveloped arms to slam the blade through the Droid's chest. All of Harkin's rage turned into shock when he felt that sword pierce through his own chest. He was almost stunned into silence, looking down to see the rod of iron buried inside of his own chest cavity. "W...what...?" Anthony smirked, ripping the blade out and jumping away as a Sun clone took his place. The clone would thrust its fist through the rift created by the blade. "Sorry," He allowed himself to give his own taunt to his foe. "But I guess this was just one of those days, huh?" And then, the Sun clone exploded, blowing the Spider Droid into pieces along with it. "ALRIGHT!" Yang pumped her fist, having a great view of the Spider Droid's demolition. "One down! Now to just take care of this other guy-" "You fucking brats!" Roman snarled aloud, unknown to the other children as he spoke to only himself. Alone in the cockpit he witnessed his partner's downfall. He alone was the only other person he could identify in this mad ambition the weird woman with fire powers had. Their organization was going to triumph among the ashes of chaos. He'd take anything he wanted while Harkin ruled over the cities of civilization's husk. But now, that dream was torn asunder. "IT'S TIME I PUNISH YOU ALL!" Twisting his Paladin's upper body around to send Yang flinging off with surprise, he made his move. Clenching his mecha's fist into prime propulsion, he'd slam the piston charged metal to strike her in midair. Only possible for the instrument's tracking systems and the machine's own superior timing, the blonde was pummeled along her waist straight through a concrete support pillar. The blast of which send debris flying awry, a pocket of air exploding with the effect of thunder that ripped the surface of the ground. "YANG!" Blake cried out, fearing the worst as she saw her fly like a rag doll among the wreckage. Moving to engage Torchwick directly, she was stopped by Ruby's confident voice. "No, it's okay," She spoke with a glint of admiration shining in her silver eyes. "Yang's Semblance, it takes the damage she receives and increases her power. That's her strength!" All other feats prior to this would make them seem like mere temper tantrums. Rising up from the ground, she possessed a bloodied lip and a bruise over her exposed navel up to her mid torso. Part of her clothes were in drabs but more importantly, her whole being glowed a bright gold. Her hair became luminescent, eyes a pure crimson and the Aura shimmering from her was immense. The wind itself swirled around her like a cyclone, making it harder to distinguish if she was real or a mere mirage. Torchwick was too mad to discern the possibility of danger. Throwing another mecha punch, he'd gawk at the sensation of jerking mechanisms as his Paladin's metal knuckles were stopped by Yang's single hand. The ground she stood tore to pieces from the velocity that was reversed, the grunts and wails of metal straining against incredible energy forged through one small hand. "YAAAAAAAAAH!" Yang screamed out with her free hand punching the arm into molten splinters. Backing up, the machine tried to fire off a number of deterrent shots from its laser targeting. Moving faster than his analysis engines could predict, the burning gold figure sped forward at speeds that even amazed Ruby and her friends. A metal appendage swiped where she was, only for it to strike burning static image where she once was. Leaping up in a front flip, she twisted around in midair with a Ember Celica covered fist balled up. Using one arm to defend against the torso spinning hook that stunned the solitary machine, she kicked off the air with Aura discharge from her free hand. Returning with her left fist, she'd smash the mecha into thousands of pieces and in turn surprisingly left the cockpit to roll out of the blast with Roman flipping head over foot. Soot covering his sleek suit, he dusted himself while looking rather annoyed, even as Yang landed on the ground in a crouch, rising up with seething anger radiating off her. "There's nowhere to run, Torchwick!" Yang proclaimed, backed up by Weiss, Ruby and many others all geared up to take him down at a moment's notice. Anger had been subdued by a wry confidence that was regrettably unseen by all's perception. In the corner of Roman's eye he saw a familiar short figure approaching them. Grinning, he made a reach for his cigar and lit it up, smoking out with an air of pride in his humility in his voice, "Alright kids, you got me beat. But don't think I'm just gonna let you cuff me and take me to the slammer. I got plans, you see. Big plans. You should know after breaking up that rally. We're going to have a spectacular show, a war that'll put others to shame. But all in due time. You'll get your chance to see it after all." "Not if I send you to Hell first!" Yang growled out, cocking back a fist before anyone could say it and thrust a Aura charged Dust fireball towards the confidently standing criminal mastermind. There was a reason why Roman was just so confident. The round wouldn't meet Roman's flesh, but rather the material of an enhanced umbrella. She would appear once the smoke cleared away. The brown-and-pink hair combined with the relatively classy clothing made her recognizable by both Sun and Elisha, who made that clear with the widening of their eyes. She straightened herself, resting the umbrella on her shoulder and giving Yang a sly grin. And then, a gunshot rang out. Anthony's world was rocked with pain as a partially enhanced Dust bullet ripped through his throat. His hand jerked, reflexively moving to cover the wound. But that was stopped when he felt a presence rush to his back. His body twisted, swinging the blade to meet a scarred and tattered Harkin. His sword wrist was caught, and he was forced to stagger back. For two or three seconds, he battered arms with his wounded adversary and even attempted another swing at him. But the wound had turned the duel out of his favor. Harkin pistol-whipped him, sending him onto his back. He stepped onto Anthony's chest, aimed, and fired three more rounds into the throat. With each shot, Anthony shook violently with garbled yells. "ANTHONY!!" Elisha's horrified and enraged yell was followed by him throwing himself at Harkin. His katana's blade was swung, slicing Harkin's chest and crossing over the earlier wound inflicted. There was a snarl of pain from the young criminal, but Elisha didn't dare take the time to be satisfied. He swung again, blocked by only the revolver. The force, however, was enough to send Harkin back. Much to his surprise, Harkin found the ability to aim his gun and fire even as he was thrust backwards. The first shot tore through Elisha's knee, causing him to fall on it. The second pierced through his chest, putting him down for the count. Three more figures jumped to Harkin's vicinity, familiar to only the teams of RWBY and ARES. They had their own weapons out, ready to protect their boss from any further attack. "Wow!" Lionel whistled, looking at the flaming debris that the Spider Droid left behind. "Didn't take long for that piece of junk to get wasted. Either you suck at piloting, or these fledglings are just too good for their nest." "YOU can mock me later!" Harkin growled, though he took a small satisfaction at the injuries he had dealt. It was somewhat hindered by the fact that Anthony hadn't fallen, instead on his hands and knees and glaring daggers at the group. But at the very least, he had carried out his promise on one of them. "After we escape!" Clutching his chest, he began to make his way over to where Roman and Neo were. His revolver was kept aimed, temporarily swinging to Rohan as he quickly moved over to the sides of his injured colleagues. Lionel followed, flanked by an impressed Rhea and a stoic Fehin. Rhea let out a wolf-whistle, grinning toothily at the sight of the enraged Yang. "You sure we can't kill them here and now?" She asked, licking her lips. "Blondie's looking pretty good~" "You'll have your time." Harkin grunted, taking his place beside Roman and keeping a bead on the group of students. Off to the side, he could see Seth and Kiarra begin to stir from their own slumber. "We'll all have our time." "Welp!" Lionel shrugged, closing one eye and smirking. "You heard the man. Night's been fun, and you've been quite a crowd. But the entertainers got other business to tend to." He briefly pointed at Nora with his sword. "I'll keep you in mind though, Ginger Snap." "...Ginger Snap?" Harkin repeated, sparing Lionel a light look of disbelief. "We're friends now. Really." Lionel answered innocently. Harkin was silent for a second more, before shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Not dignifying that." "That being said," Roman finished with a tip of his hat, placing the cigar back in his mouth while resting his left hand on the cane as he acknowledged all of the team members of RWBY by nickname. "Red, Kitten, Blondie, Ice Queen." "Hey!" Weiss yelled out with indignation. "Time I see you later. It's been fun, truly," He sarcastically replied, making a sweeping bow to the many who were around. Kicking off the ground with a vein-legged jump, the air was left in a whirlwind as she moved quickly forward. A fist cocked back, aimed to punch Roman's head clean off. But that was merely a distant hope, a fist collided not with flesh and bone but Dust filled air. All of them had vanished as her powerful attack shattered what looked like dissolving glass. Turning around with red eyes, she looked up to hear a distant rumble of a heli-plane, holding the contents of the group they intended to defeat. Roman waved cheekily along with Neo with Harkin's team stowed away inside. A rumbling roar left it jettisoning away, making Yang stew angerly as their quarry escaped. They failed, utterly, to stop them. "They got away," She angrily snarled. "We'll find them," Blake assured, placing a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder that made her defuse her Aura enhanced state. Both exchanged a brief smile before looking back up at the sky somberly. "They'll make another mistake. And I think when we check up on Jaune's group, we may have plenty of evidence to get the authorities and the Huntsmen to start making cautionary measures." "I guess you could say we caused their plans," Weiss began, smiling jocularly as she gestured with a bodily tilt for emphasis. "Falling apart." Ruby couldn't stifle a giggle from hearing the pun. Blake and Weiss, along with Nora and Ren all rolled their eyes at the tasteless joke. "No," Blake retorted blankly, beginning to walk away towards the recovering Kiarra and Seth. "Just, no." "Leave the puns to me, Ice Queen," Yang half-joked as she walked away with a stomp. "Well I THOUGHT it was funny!" Weiss huffed as she raised her head up and walked with them with indignation. While initially repulsed by Weiss' terrible sense of humor, Yang and Blake quickly broke into a hurried run. With the wounds inflicted on them Yang went to cradle Anthony in her arms while gingerly resting him on his lap. Otherwise Blake merely tried to dress Elisha's injuries with piece of her shirt she could spare. "You okay, Iron Hand?" She tried to joke, hoping the wounds weren't as lethal as they looked. "Don't die on me," Blake warned as she wrapped bandages around Elisha's injuries. Ruby, feeling concern for both Seth and Kiarra, rushed over as far as her little feet could take her. Dropping to her knees she looked at them with big silver eyes as she asked them a bit too loudly, "Guys! Guys?! Can you hear me? Are you alright?" Thankfully, neither of them were too phased by the volume. "Y-yeah...!" Seth grunted, patting his chest a few times and looking down at himself. "I'm good. Thanks for hauling my ass outta there, pup." He gingerly shook his head, groaning. "Dust, that's the worst pounding I've ever took since that one desert camping trip back in Vacuo!" "...do I even wanna know?" Kiarra breathed, sparing him a wary glance as she held her stomach. She had undid the broken bones she had been dealt with the use of her Aura, but it would be temporary at best. She was no master in the use of her own soul, after all. Seth's response was cut off by the sound of Anthony's coughing. Both he and Kiarra spun their heads turned to see the ARES leader turning his head off to the side to spit blood, cradling his throat with one hand. Seth's eyes contracted, and he immediately shoved himself up to his feet to stumble towards the couple. "Shit, shit, Anthony!!" Luckily, this moment was the marking of the wound being tended to. As soon as he stopped spitting blood, Anthony was free to gasp greedily for air. He took his hand off of his throat, which was bloodied. But the holes and gashes had been sealed, leaving behind notable scars. His eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling deeply. "Okay..." He got out, his voice cracked and hoarse. "Never turning my back like that again.... no matter what the distraction is..." "I...I should be dead..." Elisha groaned, relaxing as Blake tended to him. He didn't flinch when his chest was partially exposed to reveal the wound, content to observe as the bandages were placed. "The first rounds we saw him fire were enough to shatter the heads of those police officers... by the stars, am I lucky..." "You all right, El?" Sun had sauntered up to the pair and knelt down to Elisha's level. There was a flicker of envy as he saw Blake tending to Elisha's injury, but it wasn't enough to override his own concern. "I'll live." Elisha answered, nodding slightly to both him and Blake. "And I'll recover. Thank you both." "Anthony, you better not be dying!" Seth snapped, skidding over to a kneeling position beside Anthony. "If you're dying, I'm gonna--!" "Relax, Seth..." Anthony rasped, managing a grin and turning his head to look in the cowboy's direction. "I'll be fine. Voice is gonna be a little screwed up for the next couple of days, maybe a week or two... but I'll be fine..." The smile faded, and he grunted as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position beside Yang. His legs crossed Indian style, his arms resting in his lap. His eyes glared in the direction of the Spider Droid's remains, and then the Paladin's. "This just got too complicated for my tastes." He grumbled, gesturing at them both with his metallic hand. "That is Atlas technology. Prototype mechs, but high-grade military equipment all the same, and yet they were in the hands of those guys. How the hell did they even get their hands on that?" After calming down, Seth followed Anthony's gaze. "They must have good hands and good people..." He muttered, rising up to his feet anf placing his hands on his hips. One of those hands extended out to Anthony, and he offered a lopsided grin. "But, how about we worry about this another time? I've had a hell of a night." "You're gonna have even worse of a night than that." Anthony replied, accepting the hand and allowing himself to be pulled up. His eyes drifted to the wrecked road above with disdain and exhaustion. "There's no way Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch are gonna ignore this. I know for a fact that if all of us aren't gonna get chewed out, I'' am." He turned around, offering a hand to Yang. "Probably your sister and Mose, too, if they're feeling merciful enough..." "Ruby!" Rohan called out, running to her after he was sure Anthony and Elisha were stable. "Are you all right?" "She's fine." Kiarra piped in, giving a small smirk. "Didn't suffer a scratch, unlike me." She chuckled as she stood up, passing an impressed look at Ruby. "Looks like I'm gonna have to step up my A-game when it comes to you, huh?" "We might all have to." Mose muttered, moving up to the group. His arms were folded across his chest, and he was looking cautiously at the destruction left behind. "The fact that street criminals got their hands on tech like that means that there's more than meets the eye. We'll need to keep on our toes, maybe inform the professors of our findings. I have a feeling that we might be over our heads here..." 'Previous Chapter' | 'Next Chapter'''